Great White Savior
by Lioncourt619
Summary: A new Diva gets paired with Punk, but falls in love with Sheamus; when Punk gets abusive at work, can Sheamus save the women he loves? Indefinitely suspended.
1. Morgan's First Day

Author's Note: Obviously the WWE owns all the rights to the wrestler's name and what not. Also, I do NOT think that Punk is a jealous psycho, but I needed him to be a bit too "into" his character for later scenes, please no flaming for that, thanks!

Anna Stark stood in the gorilla area waiting for her cue. She watched the monitor showing CM Punk in the ring with Antonio Cesaro. How this man had gotten a shot at the WWE Champion she had no idea, but it wasn't her place to question the writers. She watched Phil and Antonio fighting and sighed; she really didn't want to be teamed with CM Punk, she didn't like the turn they had him on, but given how much the WWE Universe hated Cesaro he was definitely the Face in this match. Shaking her head at the match and watching Aksana pacing the ring, waiting for her cue to get involved in the match, Anna almost didn't hear the man walk up behind her. She tensed, waiting silently to see who it was and if he would talk to her. Being the newest Diva most of the Superstars didn't talk to her much.

"Looking like a good match." The deep Irish brogue surprised her.

"Yes, it is." She said, keeping her eyes on the monitor. "It'll be getting more interesting soon."

"Phil's a lucky guy." His voice drifted down to her again and shocked her even more so.

Anna tugged on her shirt and finally looked up; Stephen Farrelly, aka Sheamus, stood nearly a foot taller than her and his bright red hair and pale skin seemed to glow. He had a pair of blue jeans on and one of his Hooligan shirts tucked in to the waist band which was obscured by his World Heavyweight Championship belt.

"How's Punk so lucky?" she asked, forcing him to face her.

The look in his eyes blue eyes nearly took her breath away, "That's easy. He gets to work with you." He replied and then walked away.

Anna couldn't help but watch his finely shaped ass as he walked away from her. His words echoed in her head as she turned back to see Aksana get up on the edge of the ring.

"Stark, that's your mark." The rhyming phrase filled her ears and she tore out of the gorilla area and down to the ring.

Michael Cole and The King's words were nearly lost to her as she charged around the ring to yank Aksana off the apron. As they tussled on the outside she heard the 1-2-3 count go down to her side and she smiled. She gave Aksana one last "kick" and stood up to see the ref raising CM Punk's hand. Fully into her persona as Morgan, Anna walked up the stairs and got into the ring. Punk looked surprised to see her, but when she shoved the ref out of the way and raised his hand herself he smiled from ear to ear.

She could hear Cole and Lawler speculating on who she was, so when Punk pulled her close and kissed as the script said she wasn't surprised to hear the entire arena descend into silence. As she wrapped her arms around Punk's neck and really got into the kiss the "Holy Shit" chant started around the arena. Anna was stunned, Phil was an amazing kisser and he wasn't kissing her like the actors in the movies would, he was kissing her socks off. When he pulled away she smiled at him and walked to the ropes, opening them for him and then letting him lift her down to the floor. Hand in hand they walked up the ramp and back to the gorilla area. The minute they were behind the curtain she pulled her hand from Punk's, they didn't have to do a post-match promo and Stephen's words were still bouncing around in her brain. She stormed back stage looking for someone who would know where he'd gotten off to, just because he was here didn't mean he would be involved in the show but she wanted to talk to him.

She saw Josh Matthews walking around and tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped a bit, which was funny since he was a couple inches taller than her.

"Oh hey Anna." He smiled, "Great scene just now, you and Phil really pulled it off." He kept grinning as he talked.

"Yeah, thanks." She smiled back. "I'm looking for Stephen, you seen him?"

Josh looked a bit embarrassed, "Um…which one?"

"Shit, sorry." She shook head, forgetting there were a few different Stephens on the payroll. "Sheamus." She clarified.

"Oh, um he's not here." Josh looked a little surprised she was looking for him.

"What do you mean, he's not here?" she asked, "I just saw him before my bit with Phil."

"Yeah, he was here." Josh looked uncomfortable. "It's just…"

"Just what?" she nearly growled at him.

"Well, we were watching the match and he smiled when you started kicking Aksana's ass." Josh hesitated again.

"Oh Josh just tell her." Matt Stryker's voice came from behind her.

"Tell me what?" she asked rounding on Stryker.

"He swore in Gaelic when you kissed Punk and stormed off." Stryker said, "At least I'm assuming it was swearing since he looked pissed. Last I saw him he slammed out of his locker room, told Paul he was heading back to the hotel and took off in his rental."

They could have knocked her over with a feather; Stephen Farrelly had gotten pissed that she had to kiss Phil Brooks for a storyline? Why on Earth would he be pissed? They'd only met twice and the second time was when he spoke to her just before her debut. She shook her head and looked between Josh and Matt, both of whom had the same look on their faces, they weren't lying.

"I um… I gotta go." She said and headed back to the Diva's locker room.

Anna was in daze as she changed out of her CM Punk t-shirt and black capris style pants and wrestling boots. She pulled on a pair of blue jeans and a purple tank top and then laced up her Reeboks. Sighing as she packed her bag she looked up to see AJ coming into the room.

"Hey Boss-Lady." She smiled at the young woman.

"Hey Anna, great show tonight." AJ replied, "You heading out?"

"Yeah, my bit is done, there's nothing else in the script for Phil and I, so I was gonna head back to the hotel." Anna replied, still smiling.

"Phil's a great kisser, isn't he?" AJ's question surprised her a bit but she nodded.

"Yeah, I guess so." She said, "it's just work so I wasn't really grading his technique." She lied.

AJ nodded and started changing out of her GM outfit, a sign that her bit for the night was also done. Anna grabbed her bag and left the room after saying good bye to AJ. She made her way to her rental car, trying to focus on getting back to the hotel and not the confusing way the night had gone so far. The drive to the hotel was short and she walked up to the desk and smiled at the young man working there.

"Hey, I'm looking for one of my co-workers, we're all staying here in the hotel, but I don't know his room number." She smiled and the guy's eyes looked a little dazed, "I was wondering if you could tell me how to find him?"

"Um…well, I'm not supposed to, but you're CM Punk's girlfriend right?" he said.

"Yeah, that's right." She'd use her role if she needed to, most people didn't realize most WWE couples were just for TV. "I've got a message for Sheamus, he might be in the registry under Stephen Farrelly, can you find him for me?"

The guy looked up Stephen's room and gave her the number no problem. She walked to the elevator, her heart pounding and pressed the number for his floor. When the elevator dinged she turned right like the desk clerk told her to and walked down to the right number. She could hear music through the door, but it wasn't too loud. Taking a deep breath and hoping she wouldn't regret it, she raised her hand and knocked, loudly.

It seemed to take forever for the music to lower and for her to hear the footsteps to the door. She stood so that if he was looking through the peephole he could see her. She tried to keep her breath even as the lock slid and the door opened. Stephen was topless, which given how often she'd seen him wrestle shouldn't have been a surprise but she'd never seen him topless in jeans and it was a fine sight.

"What do you want?" he asked, looking down at her.

"To talk." She said, surprised at the anger and hurt in his eyes. "It seems I've done something to upset you."

She watched his chest rise and fall as he took a few deep breaths and too many emotions to name made their way across his face. He nodded finally and stepped back from the door, holding it open.

"I guess you'd best come in then." He said, hanging his head in what looked like resignation.

"Ste…um…if you don't want to talk, I can go." She said, not wanting to push him or make him anymore angry.

"Get in here." He said, reaching out and grabbing her arm.

Anna gasped in shock as Stephen pulled into his room and up against his chest. Her bag hit the ground at their feet as her hand reached for some kind of purchase and found his shoulders. She looked up into his clear blue eyes and saw a new emotion there and it scared her.

He gripped her upper arms in his hands as he let the hotel room door close on its own. He looked down at her with a combination of anger, hurt and jealousy gleaming in his eyes. Anna's breath picked up a bit as he pulled her even closer to himself, leaving her standing on her tip toes.

"Ste…Stephen?" she squeaked the question out.

"Anna." Her name from his lips was like a groan and it made her insides melt.

Faster than she thought was possible his right hand had moved to cup the back of her neck and his lips her on hers. They were impossibly soft and stroked against hers in a way that melted all her shock, all her resistance and just about all of her bones. She clung to his naked shoulders and surrendered her mouth to him. She opened on a soft moan and allowed his tongue to plunder her mouth, stroking in and out almost languorously, making her moan and sigh. His left hand slid down her arm to her waist to keep her close to him as he pressed her against him.

Anna was swept up in a tide of lust and passion as she kissed Stephen; wanting to work with him was one of the reasons she had trained so hard and signed with the WWE. Never in a million years had she thought that on her first night she would be standing in his hotel room kissing him. She slid her left hand from his shoulder to the back of his head and ran her fingers through his hair and she was rewarded with a groan as her nails gently caressed his scalp. He slowly pulled out of the kiss and she heard him say her name again, so softly she almost missed it. He looked at her and he was dazed, but then again, so was she.

"Stephen?" she asked, her one hand still on his shoulder. "Is that why you left the arena?"

She watched the big man take a deep breath as he used his hand to cup her cheek, "Oh Anna." He said, "I shouldn't have done that."

"Done what?" she was confused, "left the arena?"

"Kissed you." He said, running his thumb along her cheek.

"Why not?" she asked, reaching up to cover his hand with her own.

"Because, you're with Phil." He said, shame and anger written on his face.

"I am bloody not!" she exclaimed, shocking herself and clearly surprising Stephen.

"But, after the match." He looked at her, certainly confused.

Anna bent down to pick up her bag which made Stephen lose his grip on her cheek. She wasn't happy about that but it was a necessary evil; her bag in one hand she took his in her other hand and led him further into his hotel room. She sat on the edge of the bed and tugged him down next to her before reaching into her bag and grabbing her script of the night's show. She flipped quickly to the end of the CM Punk/Antonio Cesaro match and showed him the highlighted section of the script.

**WHEN AKSANA GETS ON THE APRON, "MORGAN" WILL RACE TO THE RING AND STOP HER FROM DISTRACTING PUNK OR THE REFEREE. "CM PUNK" WILL WIN THE MATCH. AFTER THE MATCH "CM PUNK" WILL KISS "MORGAN", GIVING THE IMPRESSION THAT THEY ARE A COUPLE.**

"Stephen, I'm not dating Phil." She said, turning his face to look at her. "I don't want Phil; hell, I don't even want to be working with Phil."

"You don't?" he asked, looking ashamed, but she figured for a different reason.

"No. I don't." she smiled shyly at him. "I'd rather be with you."

Anna couldn't believe she'd just said that and by the look on his face Stephen was just as shocked.

"Me?"

Anna just nodded, keeping her grey eyes locked on his blue ones. Not sure what else to do she looked away and put her script back in her bag.

"Be with me how?" he asked, surprising her with his shyness.

Anna closed her eyes as she zipped up her bag; she shouldn't be doing this. It was her first day, she should be going over the script for her next appearance and talking to Phil about how they wanted to play this, not sitting in Stephen's hotel room and wishing he'd kiss her again.

She stood up, bag in hand and started to walk towards the door. "You were right, we shouldn't have done that." She whispered, "I can't afford to get involved with anyone right now."

Stephen was at her side with a speed his size hid and he turned her around, a bit of anger back in his glance. "Answer my question Anna." He said, his face set in determined lines.

Anna closed her eyes again and then looked to the where they had kissed. "Couldn't you tell?" she asked, looking up to see him looking at the same spot.

"I want to hear you say it." He said, his grip on her shoulder tight, but not painful.

"Stephen," she nearly moaned his name. "I…I want to be with you…in the ring…" she swallowed thickly, watching emotions play over his face. "And out of it." She finished, seeing the anguish and lust burning across his pale face.

Before she could blink she was in his arms again, he'd picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist; his lips were on hers and her mind was turning to mush. She tightened her grip on his waist as she threaded her hands into hair and licked at his lips. He groaned as his tongue slid to spar with her own; somehow hands had slid under her tank top and were scorching her skin. She felt him moving and soon enough she felt his shins bump against the bed as he lowered her to the mattress. She broke the kiss and crawled back from him, the raw hunger on his face was a little intimidating.

"Stephen?" she whispered his name as a question as he got on the bed and prowled towards her. "Stephen…talk to me."

"No more talking." He said, his hand reaching her hip and pulling her under him.

"Please…" she whimpered as he lowered his face and started to kiss and nibble her neck.

Anna was on fire from the combination of his soft lips and slightly rough facial hair trailing down her neck to her collarbone. Stephen's hands had slid under her shirt and again and were slowly working it up her body.

"Stephen, please…" she moaned, not quite sure what she was asking for.

He lifted his head and froze; apparently her fear was plain on her face because he jerked away from her as if he'd been burnt.

"I'm sorry." He muttered, he actually started repeating it as he sat on the furthest edge of the bed from her and hung his head.

Anna took a couple deep breaths and crawled over to where he was sitting. She placed a hand on his shoulder and was shocked to find it trembling. She looked over his shoulder and saw his eyes were wet.

He looked at her with pain so naked on his face she thought her heart would break. He reached up and gently touched her cheek. "I'm so sorry Anna." His voice nearly broke as he talked. "I'm sorry."

Anna forced herself to take another deep breath and then reached out to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. "Don't be sorry Stephen." She whispered, "I'm not scared of you."

He looked confused, "Then why were you scared?"

"I…" she looked deep into his eyes. "I'm scared of how powerful these feelings are _a ghra._" She whispered.

The Gaelic endearment shocked him, she could tell he was trying to figure out she knew what she'd said but she kissed his cheek and whispered "my love" in his ear.

"Stephen, we've only met but three times now and already I want to be in your arms, in your bed and in your life forever and a day." She said, watching the shock fill his face. "When you kissed me that first time it felt like you lit my blood on fire, no man has ever made me feel that way, not with one kiss."

"You lit my blood on fire as well, _a ruin._" He whispered back, "I want you in my arms because you are already in my heart."

"Aren't you scared?" she murmured, leaning closer to him. "Fire can burn if you get too close to it."

"I'm willing to risk it Anna." He said, closing the distance so their lips barely touched. "Are you?"

Anna closed her eyes again, trying to block out the intense emotions she'd seen in Stephen's eyes. Feeling his lips so still against her own, having seen the pain and shame in his eyes when he thought she'd been afraid of him, all of it piled up and she realized as crazy as it was, she loved him. Calling him "my love" in Gaelic hadn't been planned, but when he'd called her "my dear" in return she'd known everything she needed to.

"Yes." She whispered, "_Anamchara*_, I am willing."

Anna could never be sure whether she had initiated the kiss or if Stephen had, or if they had done so at the same moment, but this kiss was totally different than any kiss they had shared that night. It was slow and sweet, a learning and a yearning. She slid a hand into his hair and kept one on his shoulder as they slowly moved so they were lying on their sides, lips fused, hands gently roaming. They took their time and this time, when his hand slid her shirt up, there was no fear and she let him take the shirt over her head and drop to the ground. Minutes felt like hours, hours like days as they learned every inch of each other and when they finally joined together they sighed as one.

Anna stared up at Stephen as he braced himself above her; she had never felt more complete than she did right at this moment. She reached up and cupped his cheek as they began to move together. Everything was perfect, absolutely perfect. He lent down and kissed her softly, whispering lovely Gaelic phrases in her ear as he made love to her. She clung to him as she crested and heard him call her _Anamchara_ as he followed her over the cliff.

Sweaty, spent and happier than she'd ever been in her life Anna let Stephen roll them over so she was nestled in the crook of his arm, her cheek resting on his chest, her hand resting on his heart. He held her close as they both drifted off to sleep, happy and not thinking about what the future might bring.

End Chapter 1

*_Anamchara_ is Gaelic for Soulmate


	2. Things Get Weird at SmackDown

**Author's Note: A lovely reviewer said that the story would be better if there was more build up between Morgan's first day and the other chapter I posted and looking back I realized this lovely person was right so I'm writing a few more chapters to explain Anna/Stephen's developing relationship out of the ring and the issues with Punk on-screen and off...so here's the first new chapter.**

The next night at the SmackDown taping Anna sat restlessly in the catering room. She stared at her plate, barely touching her food. She was just about to pick up her sandwich when a shadow fell over her.

"Hey."

She looked up and saw Phil standing in front of her. "Hi Phil, what's up?"

"We need to talk about last night." He said, "You took off pretty quick after the match. What if they wanted to do an interview?"

"It wasn't in the script." She said, sighing. "Look, I had something I had to take care of last night. I know they change stuff sometimes so I'll stick around from now on but please, don't expect me to be glued to your side."

Phil glared at her, "Anna, according to the WWE Universe, you're my girlfriend and we need to be seen together."

"Like I said, I'll be there when I need to be." She sighed again, standing up. "I need to go get ready for my match against Aksana."

Stephen watched the exchange between Phil and Anna with a bit of concern, Phil had worked with people before but hadn't insisted they stay close. He watched Anna walk away to get ready for her match and stood up to go find a monitor when Phil stepped in front of him.

"Keep your eyes to yourself fella," Phil said, glaring up at him. "She's taken."

Before Stephen could make a sound Phil turned around and stormed from the catering room, leaving Stephen and a few other superstars a bit confused. Shaking his head he left the catering room and wandered back to the gorilla area, he knew there'd be a monitor there. Antonio and Aksana were already there and when her music hit the two of them walked to the ring together.

"Why not Punk, you keep saying we need to be seen together, Antonio goes down to the ring with Aksana." Anna's voice drifted into the area before her and Phil walked in.

"I'm the WWE Champion." He said, smirking. "Go kick some ass, we'll see each other later."

As the music she'd picked out hit Anna squared her shoulders and tried not to yelp when Phil smacked her ass. She ran down to the ring and slid in before popping up and waving to the Universe. "Morgan" was incredibly popular, mostly because people didn't like Aksana and they cheered as the two divas locked up and Morgan forced Aksana into the corner. The two women grappled and actually started to give the fans a pretty good match.

Five minutes into the match Aksana was on the mat and Morgan climbed the turnbuckle to hit what was going to become her finishing move when Punk's music hit. Distracted by the sound and looking for Punk, Morgan never saw Antonio come up and shove her off the top of the ring. Morgan hit the ring hard and groaned; what the hell was Punk doing, this wasn't how the match was supposed to go. She was dazed and trying to get to her feet when she felt Aksana take advantage and kick her. She groaned and rolled out of the ring only to have Antonio pick her back up and toss her into the ring. Her head still ringing from the shove Morgan didn't even fight it when Aksana pinned her. The ref did the count and raised Aksana's arm in victory, the exact opposite of what was supposed to happen. They went to "commercial" and after Aksana and Antonio left the ring Charles Robinson walked over to her and knelt down.

"Are you okay?"

"No Charles, my head feels like they hit it with the bell." She said, "I think I have a concussion."

Charles nodded and signalled for a trainer. He got her sitting up the corner and had the trainer check her out. The trainer confirmed she had a concussion and helped her to the back. She was still leaning heavy on him when they crossed the curtain. Stephen was standing there looking ready to kill and Phil was smirking at her. Not caring that she had a concussion or that there might be cameras in the back she launched herself at Phil and slapped the smirk right off his face.

"What the hell is wrong with you Punk?" she screamed, just in case there were cameras around. "I have a concussion now you jackass!"

Punk grabbed her arm and kissed her. She struggled and shoved him away from her, "I'll take care of you Morgan." He smiled, running his hand down her face. "I'll always take care of you. Come on."

Trembling with rage but noticing the cameras Anna leaned on Phil as he led her to his locker room. Once inside she lost it again.

"I didn't just say that for the cameras Phil!" she hollered, "I actually have a concussion because I didn't see Antonio coming, like I was supposed to, because your music distracted me."

"I'm sorry Anna." He said, cupping her face, "I was going to go out and support you so they played my music. I was hoping to distract Antonio but it didn't work and then I got told to stay in the back."

Anna watched his face, he seemed sincere but she knew that Phil was a great pretender. She nodded and said she forgave him.

"I need rest, that's what the trainer said." She told him, "I know I said I would stick around, but I don't think it would be a good idea."

Phil nodded and kissed her head, "I understand, you're not supposed to be ringside with me tonight anyway." He smiled at her, "Go back to the hotel and rest, I'll text you later, okay?"

"Sounds great Phil, thanks for understanding." She smiled and left the locker room.

Anna made it to the locker room and almost to her car before he found her. His hand came down on her shoulder a second before he spoke.

"Anna, are you okay?"

She turned to Stephen and saw the anger on his face; whether that was because he couldn't come to her defense or because she had kissed Phil again she wasn't sure, but she just wanted to get back to the hotel and rest.

"I'm fine Stephen," she smiled, "I hit the ring a little harder than I should have and I got a slight concussion, no worries."

Stephen nodded, she knew he had a match later so he couldn't do anything; which probably didn't help improve his mood any. She felt bad for his opponent that night. She shouldered her bag and said good bye to him.

"I'll come check on you later." He whispered in her ear, making her shiver.

She got in her car and drove back to the hotel, never realizing that Phil had seen the entire exchange between her and Stephen and that he was not happy.


	3. Back to RAW

**Author's Note: Alright so here's the next "in between" chapter, I'll just keep shifting the other chapter "lower" until it gets where it needs to be and then I'll go from there. Hope you guys like it! Please R&R. As I said in the first chapter, I don't think Punk is a jealous psycho but I need him to be for the story. I'm trying to process and work through some issues and right now, Punk needs to be the bad guy and he's SO good at!**

Two weeks later Anna was back at work for RAW and recovered from her concussion. Stephen had taken great care of her on their days off. They'd stayed at the hotel for a little while longer, in a private suite and he'd pampered her for three days. He'd met up with the rest of the roster at RAW that Monday and she'd watched with glee as he beat up Damien Sandow, yet again. Tuesday was a SmackDown taping and he texted her to let her know that he'd exchanged words with a returning Drew McIntyre and it looked like they'd be feuding for a little while.

A few of the superstars waved and said hi as she walked to the women's locker room to get ready for the night. She'd gotten her pages for the night and she was going to escort Punk to the ring as he took on Antonio Cesaro again. Aksana was sitting in the locker room when she stepped through the door.

Seeing no cameras around Anna smiled and said hello to her current on-screen rival.

"Hey Anna," the raven-haired diva smiled, "Sorry about SmackDown."

"No, it's my fault, I shouldn't have gotten distracted." She smiled, "the time off was nice though."

The two of them laughed as they got dressed and then went off to find their respective partners for the evening. As Anna walked towards the area where the men changed she heard a voice behind her.

"Well hello there lassie."

Anna turned to see Drew McIntyre walking towards her and tried not to shudder in revulsion; Drew was a good looking man but the look on his face gave her the creeps.

"Drew." She said, looking up and down the Scottish born wrestler. "Can I help you with something?"

"Actually lassie, I was wondering the same thing." Drew said, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I'm guessing you're new around here."

"So what if I am?" she said, taking a step back.

"Oh no lassie, girls don't turn me down." He smirked, stepping closer.

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not a girl." She smirked right back him. "I'm a woman."

"And she's _my_ woman." Phil's voice came from behind her. "You need to back off McIntyre, focus on pummeling your Irish friend and leave my woman alone."

Phil dropped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. Anna almost said something until she saw the cameras. She slid her arm around Punk's waist and leaned closer to him.

"Hey baby." She smiled up at him, "I was just coming to find you."

Punk leaned down and kissed her softly, which felt odd with the lip ring, something she hadn't noticed before. She gave back a bit before pulling back and smirking at Drew.

"Run along, I'm sure Sheamus is looking for you." Punk said, holding her tighter.

McIntyre walked away and the camera crew followed him. Finally alone Anna stepped back and smiled at Phil.

"Thanks for the save Phil, Drew was seriously creeping me out." She smiled at him.

"Didn't I say I'd take care of you?" he smiled back, "Why didn't you call me when you were off?"

"I was resting." She said, trying to keep her smile. "I didn't think you'd want me to bother you."

"Resting huh?" he said, his smile brittle now, "Resting with who?"

"What?" she shook her head, "Phil that is _none_ of your business."

"Was it Sheamus?" he asked, "I saw you talking to him after the show."

"Yeah, Stephen stopped me to ask if I was okay after my spill on SmackDown two weeks ago, so what?" she asked, "he's a friend, who care?"

"I care." Phil said, "I don't like the way he looks at you."

"And how does he look at me Phil?" she challenged, but her heart was pounding.

"Like you're more than a friend," Phil whispered in her ear. "He's not careful I'll make sure he keeps his eyes to himself."

It felt like there was ice in veins as she followed Punk to the gorilla area for the start of RAW. Stephen wasn't there, thank god, but she knew they would have to talk and she wasn't looking forward to it.

Anna rolled off of Stephen, panting and totally satisfied. She looked at her lover and smiled, "Seriously, I don't know how you do that thing with your tongue, but wow."

Stephen rolled on to his side and placed his hand on her stomach. "Lots of practice my love." he smiled back at her, "but I think it could use some improvement, would you be willing to let me keep practicing?"

Heat washed through her and she nearly rolled into his arms, but then she remembered her conversation with Phil and stopped herself.

"I would love _a ghra_, but we need to talk." She said, smiling sadly.

"What's wrong?" he said, propping himself up on his elbow and pushing a lock of sweat dampened hair off her forehead.

"I had a run in with Drew McIntyre and Phil today." She said, "Drew tried to hit on me and Phil showed up with a camera crew and scared him off."

"Drew didn't touch you did he?" Stephen asked, his face dark.

"No my love," she assured him, "he tried but Phil told him I was taken and he went away, presumably to find you and work out your match. But after that Phil got a little weird."

"A little weird?" Stephen asked, concern growing.

"Well he asked me why I hadn't called him on my time off." She said, "I hedged and said I'd been resting like the doctor said to; but he said he saw us talking after SmackDown and wanted to know if I'd spent the time with you."

"What did you tell him?"

"I'm sorry baby, but I lied." She sighed, "we agreed that we'd keep this between us so I told Phil I was alone. He said he doesn't like the way you look at me, that you look at me like I'm more than a friend."

"You are more than a friend _anamchara_." He whispered and leaned down to kiss her softly. "I'll try to keep it professional at work, I promise."

"Thank you." She sighed, rubbing his neck. "I should head back to my room."

"I know," Stephen hung his head. "I wish you didn't have to."

Anna kissed Stephen one last time and then got dressed and headed to her own room. She was smiling softly as she walked down the hall, her shoes in her hand.

Phil Brooks turned the corner just as Anna walked out of Sheamus's hotel room, her hair was wet and tousled and she was carrying her shoes in her hand. He growled low in this throat. Morgan had lied to him, there had to be something going on with her and Sheamus; he knew that John Cena was Sheamus's roommate and that the leader of the Cena-tion wouldn't try to take what belonged to another man. Phil had a feeling he and Sheamus would be having words together real soon, and if words didn't work, well, there were other things that could be done.


	4. Punk Crosses the Line

**Author's Note: Alright, I'm running out of ideas of how to show Punk's increasing instability and obsession with "Morgan" so I'm going to tweak this chapter a bit and then update it and hopefully add a new chapter soon. Thanks so much for your patience!**

* * *

Anna woke up with a heartbeat in her ear and she smiled. Hearing his heartbeat she knew exactly where she was. She gently stirred and saw him watching her, his blue eyes alight with love and a little bit of mischief.

"Okay, what cute thing did I do this time?" she asked, making Stephen chuckle.

"Nothing _a ghra_, nothing, I promise." He smiled at her as she sat up and stretched.

"What time is it?" she asked, leaning back as hugged her from behind.

"Early enough to have breakfast in bed." He whispered, kissing her shoulder.

"Stephen." She sighed, letting her head fall back against him. "Please, you know I have to go."

Stephen stopped moving his hand on her stomach and she felt him sigh. They'd been sleeping together for a few months now, but they weren't sure how the WWE writers would feel about it so they'd done their best to keep their relationship a secret. She kissed him deeply and then quickly dressed and snuck back into her own hotel room. She made sure that she got a room by herself, even if she had to pay extra just so that she didn't have to explain to a roommate why she was gone so much of the night. She slipped into the bed she had paid for and ached for Stephen, she wished they could just be honest about their love, but with her TV relationship with CM Punk gaining ground there wasn't much they could do. Anna tried to get a few more hours sleep before checking out and heading to their next venue.

She got the venue and there were, as always, fans waiting for the superstars and divas. She got out of her car and waved at them. They were really nice and waited until she walked over to ask for pictures and autographs. She signed pictures and autograph books and smiled for pictures. A few fans asked where CM Punk was and she joked that he'd slept in and would there soon, but she hadn't wanted to disappoint the fans and had come early.

Anna was chatting with one young fan when she heard the crowd erupt; there were a few superstars they would do that for but then one girl screamed.

"Oh my god it's Sheamus!"

Anna took a deep breath, this part was always hell. Because Sheamus was the World Heavyweight Champ and CM Punk was the WWE Champ there was supposed to be tension between the two of them. She watched Stephen get out of car and his eyes locked on hers like laser beams. She felt her blood heat and wished to the gods she could walk over and kiss his brains out like she wanted to. He walked over to where some of the other fans were and started signing autographs and taking pictures. She finished her conversation, grabbed her bag and walked by "Sheamus" as he was signing.

"Hello Morgan." He said, smirking at her.

"Good bye Sheamus." She said, sneering at him and walking into the arena.

A few hours later Anna stood in the gorilla area and waited for the match to start. Punk stood next to her and held her hand, she hated this part, having to pretend she actually like this jackass. He'd calmed down in the last few months and Anna could almost forget about his threats against Stephen and the fact that he seemed to forget her name was Anna when they weren't on screen. "Punk's" theme song hit and out they walked, he raised their joined hands and then bent down to do his usual shtick while she smiled down at him.

Anna stood at the side of the ring and watched "Punk" battle Santino. She didn't know why Santino had challenged "Punk" but she really didn't care. She watched the match, did was she was supposed to do and then walked up the ramp with him.

As they entered the gorilla area she tried to shake off Phil's hand but he tightened his grip painfully.

"Ow, Phil knock it off." She said, tugging on her hand.

Phil turned and the look in his eyes scared her. She saw there weren't many others around, they were on commercial break and so that meant nothing really happened.

"We're going back to the locker room." He said, trying to pull her towards his own locker room.

"Like hell we are." She said, pulling back. "Our bit is over, now let me go."

Phil grabbed her other arm in his hand and held her tight, "Let you go so you can go whore yourself with Sheamus?" he growled at her, "While we're working, you're mine."

Anna felt the colour drain out of her face, not this again. "I am _not_ a whore." She said, trying to get away from him. "And I most certainly am not yours!"

Anna saw movement behind Phil and wanted to cry with relief. A large hand settled on Phil's shoulder and a deep voice politely demanded. "You'll want to let go of her Phil."

Seeing Mark Calloway standing behind Phil was like a like seeing an angel, which given his ring persona, The Undertaker, was almost comical. Phil released her and glared up at Mark.

"This isn't over Morgan." He said and stalked away.

Mark gently took hold of her arm by the elbow and looked at the angry red marks already forming. "You okay Anna?" he asked, leading her to a place they could sit down.

Anna nodded, but the minute he put his arm around her shoulders she started crying. Mark held her close as she trembled and cried, he rubbed her back and promised he'd keep an eye on Phil so this kind of thing didn't happen again.

"What the hell is going on?"

Anna looked up to see Paul Levesque standing in front of the two of them and he did not look happy. The "COO" of WWE stood looking at her for an explanation.

"Paul, I'm confused, what's wrong?" she asked, figuring it was better to know what he knew before she told him too much.

"Phil just stormed into my office ranting and raving about you." Paul replied, "He said you pull away from him as soon as your part is completed for the night. He said he was trying to have a talk with you about it and Mark interfered, although he kept calling you Morgan."

Anna was shaking with fear and rage; she couldn't believe Phil had gone to Paul about this. "What else did he say?" she asked, wanting to know everything.

"Something about you 'whoring' around with Sheamus and then it got a little muddled." Paul knelt down in front of her, "Anna, what's going on?"

"Paul, there weren't any talking going on when I walked up on them." Mark said, his drawl more apparent when he didn't need to pretend he was from California, which was funny. "I walked up and she looked petrified of Phil. He had a tight grip on her arm and a mad look on his face. She was saying something about not being his. And when I got involved he called her Morgan and said this wasn't over. Just look at her arm Paul."

"Anna?" a thick Irish brogue cut through area where they were sitting.

Anna looked up and saw the concern on her lover's face and not caring who else was around she stood up and ran into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her as she started sobbing again.

"_Anamchara,_what's wrong?" he stroke her hair and looked at the two men that had been sitting with her. "What's going on?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Paul said, "but it looks like at least part of Phil's paranoia wasn't wrong."

"Phil's paranoia? What's Phil got to do with this?" Stephen asked.

"Let's go to my office and talk." Paul said, leading the trio through the halls.

Anna was barely aware of the looks that she got, crying and being held by Stephen, as they walked to Paul's office. She didn't know what would happen now but when they got there Stephen sat down and immediately drew her into his lap.

Anna looked up at Paul and she could see concern and anger on his face. This time when Paul asked what happened she told him, with Mark supplementing from what he saw. She could feel Stephen trembling in anger and both men growled when they saw her arm.

"Alright, I'll talk to the writers and get them to write you away from Punk ASAP." Paul said, shaking his head. "Mark, I want you or someone you trust in the gorilla area anytime that Anna and Phil have to be there together. Stephen, I'm taking you off RAW for the time being, you'll be at SmackDown shows only. No need to incite Phil further, we don't know what else he'll do."

Stephen nodded, "Alright, but I will still be at the hotels and from now on Anna stays with me." He said, "I want to know she's safe."

Anna just kept her head buried in Stephen's neck while they discussed her like she wasn't even there. He was rubbing her leg while they talked but she could feel his anger in the tension from the rest of his body.

"Anna, once we get you away from Phil, I'm guessing you'd like to work with Stephen." Paul said, bringing her back into the conversation.

"That would be nice." She said, smiling at Paul. "I've wanted to work with him from the beginning."

Paul nodded, "alright, we'll work out some way to get you from Punk to Sheamus. It might take a little while. Stephen, would you be willing to lose the strap in order to be free to fight Punk over "Morgan"?" Paul asked, using quotes while talking about her in-ring persona.

She looked at Stephen, he was so proud of being champion; he was the first Irish-born wrestler to hold both championships, she couldn't ask him to do that.

"No, Stephen, you can't do that." She said, shaking her head.

"Yes I can." He said and the look in his eyes told her he'd already made up his mind about this. "No belt, no job, is more important than you my love." He looked at Paul, "Make it look good and I'll give up the strap to fight Phil."

Paul nodded, "It'll be good Stephen, don't worry." He sighed heavily, "Alright, take Anna back to the hotel, we'll talk more tomorrow at the SmackDown taping."

Anna was in shock as Stephen and Mark led her back to the Divas locker room so she could get her bags. She did so quickly, telling the other Divas it had been a long night and she'd see them tomorrow.

The two men walked her to the parking lot where Mark assured Stephen that someone would get the other car back to the rental agency and they left for the hotel. Anna didn't say anything until they got to their hotel room.

"That belt means everything to you, how can you be okay with giving it up?" she asked, the minute the door closed.

"Because my love, _you_ mean everything to me." He said, taking her in his arms and kissing her forehead. "I can get the belt back after you're safe and by my side."

Anna hung her head, she didn't want to cost the man she loved his title, but he was right, he'd lost the title before and gotten it back. She nodded her head and looked up at him.

"I'm scared Stephen."

"I know you are love." He sighed, hugging her close. "We'll get this worked out soon, I promise."

Sliding her hands under his shirt, Anna leaned back and looked up at Stephen; she could see the effect she was having on him and smiled.

"Take the fear away _a ghra_, just for tonight, make it go away." She whispered.

And he did…


	5. Trying to Smooth Things Over

**Author's Note: Alright, so back on track! Hope you all continue to like the story. Again, Punk isn't going to come off very good in this but he's not supposed to so yeah, it works, I guess. Please Read & Review!**

With a Pay-Per-View only a couple weeks away it was hard for the writers to change their storylines, but when the boss's son-in-law tells you to do it, you do it. Anna looked at the revised "script" for No Way Out and sighed. She would, of course, be at CM Punk's side and he would retain his WWE title, but Sheamus would be alone and he would lose to Randy Orton. She didn't like it, but it would free him up to feud with "Punk" so that she could finally be rid of him.

Phil didn't know that after No Way Out that he would be feuding with Sheamus, but that was all the better. Mark had kept his word and he was waiting for her at the locker room after she got changed and he walked her to the gorilla area where Phil was waiting. She put a smile on her face and walked over to "Punk".

"Hey Punk, I'm sorry about last week." She said, watching the surprise on his face.

"Sorry?" he asked.

"Yeah, we've got a job to do and we should both do it professionally and to the best we can while RAW and SmackDown are on the air, so fresh slate yeah?" she smiled at him.

"Sure, sounds good." He said, taking her hand and kissing her knuckles. "I'm sorry I called you a whore, I was just angry."

"That's okay Punk, I haven't been giving you the respect you deserve." She kept her smile on her face. "Let's go kick some ass."

They had a mixed tag match between Antonio Cesaro & Aksana and of course, they won. Punk got the pin and they headed back to the gorilla area. Mark and Glenn stood there looking at Punk as they walked through the curtain. She looked at Punk, ignoring her body guards and smiled.

"Well Punk, I have to head back to the Divas locker room, they want to shoot something between me and Aksana, so I'll see you later okay?" she said, keeping a smile on her face.

"Sure thing, we'll talk more later." He said and walked away.

Mark walked up and put his hand on her shoulder. "You good?"

"It's all good, but they do really want to do a segment with me and Aksana so I gotta go." She smiled at her friends and walked away.

Anna filmed the segment and then left the arena. When she got the hotel she went to room she was sharing with Stephen, he was lying on the bed in just his boxers watching RAW. The minute she was in sight he was off the bed and hugging her.

"He didn't try anything?" he asked, looking her over.

"No Stephen, it was fine, I promise." She kissed him to shut him up and pushed him back onto the bed.

Everything was going to be fine, she could see feel it.


	6. No Way Out?

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the follows and awesome reviews, I'm really glad people are liking this story. The next couple of chapters will probably come slowly, I have about 4 different Sheamus fics on the go and after Sandow's rant about being "craven" another story idea has been bugging me, sorry! My Muse has ADHD, can't stay focused on one story too long or She gets bored…please bear with me! Thanks!**

The night of "No Way Out" Anna paced the gorilla area restlessly, Paul had given strict orders that under no circumstances were she and Phil to cross paths with Stephen and it was killing her. She knew Stephen was in his own locker room and would stay there until his match later in the night. She watched as Phil did his normal routine to get ready for the match; he stretched, prayed and then stretched again. Anna muttered her own prayer to the Goddess that they got through this night okay and that they could start the new angle tomorrow.

Stephen paced his locker room, eyes on the monitor at all times. He knew Mark was in the gorilla area keeping an eye on Anna, but he wanted to see her himself. He needed to see her, to know she was okay. He huffed and forced himself to sit down so he'd have energy for his match. He heard "Cult of Personality" blare through the arena and watched as Anna and Phil came out to do their piece for the night. He absolutely hated watching Anna hug "Punk" and couldn't watch it when Punk kissed her. Wade Barrett's music hit and the cocky Englishman strutted to the ring.

"Morgan" watched Wade Barrett walk to the ring and was surprised when he looked at her; she cocked an eyebrow at him and he subtly mouthed the word "Brogue" at her. Looking quickly to Punk who didn't seem to have noticed she gave Wade a very small nod and wandered closer to the announcers' tables. The match was fast paced and brutal but in the end, after nearly twenty minutes and numerous near-falls, Punk picked up the victory and she climbed into the ring to raise his hand and celebrate.

They walked back up the ramp and were immediately greeted by Matt Stryker asking them about the match and who Punk thought his next challenger should be. Phil played it wonderfully, joking that he had no idea, but he was open to anyone who thought they were good enough to challenging him; he also mocked the RAW GM and said that she probably didn't have anyone that could beat him.

As they walked away from Matt Stryker Anna tried to figure out how to get away from Phil without making him suspicious. Luckily she didn't need to worry about that for long; one of the backstage crew jogged up to her and smiled.

"Hey Anna," he said, "I know it's short notice, but the show is running a bit too fast so they've decided to put a Diva's battle royal up after the IC match, you need to get ready."

"Thanks, I'll head right over and get changed." She said, looking up at Phil. "I'd better go, this could be interesting."

Phil let her go and smiled, it would be so great if she won the Diva's title; then they could rule RAW together. Smiling to himself he walked back to his locker room to watch the upcoming bout.

The announcement of a Divas battle royal was surprising but Anna wasn't going to complain. She got to the locker room and saw them all getting ready. A few were grumbling about last minute matches but most were focused on just winning.

One at a time the Divas filed down to the ring and got ready for the match, Lillian announced it and said the winner would end up the number one contender for the Diva's championship. All the women looked at each other smirking. The winner and final two had already been determined but the rest of the order was up for grabs.

The match only lasted about five minutes before "Morgan" was alone in the ring with Kelly Kelly. They circled each other and locked up a bit, Morgan forced Kelly into the corner and grunted.

"You wanna make this short and sweet?"

"No one would believe it." Kelly replied before the ref broke them up.

Morgan nodded, this was going to be fun. They battled back and forth for nearly another five minutes before, on a "mistake", Morgan launched herself at Kelly and fell out of the ring. Cursing her own stupidity she stood up and yelled at the ref and Kelly as the blond diva's hand was raised in victory.

Stephen sat in the locker room and watched Morgan spill out of the ring. Well, at least this match had kept her away from Phil for a bit longer. His match was next and he got up and put the World Championship around his waist for the last time, at least for a while.

Anna walked back behind the curtain and saw a very angry Phil standing there. She didn't know why he was mad but he walked right up to her and grabbed her arm.

"What the hell was that?"

"What was what?" she asked, trying to get her arm back.

"That was sloppy." He said, clearly angry about the match. "You should have been better prepared. Kelly should not have been able to beat you."

"Punk, it's a mistake that any number of divas and superstars have made." She said, not mentioning that he'd made it too. "It could have happened to anyone."

"But it shouldn't have happened to you." Punk said, his eyes getting a little crazy.

Anna watched as Stephen walked into the gorilla area and locked his eyes on Phil's hand. She swallowed thickly, hoping he wouldn't cause a problem.

"There a problem Sheamus?" Phil asked him, sneering.

"Just getting ready for me match fella," Stephen smiled.

Randy Orton walked in and saw the exchange. He knew from his friend Paul what had been going on recently and walked up and patted Anna on the back.

"Rough loss," he said, smiling at her. "I've done that a few times myself."

"Thanks Randy." She smiled, noticing Phil had removed his hand from her arm. "Good luck in your match."

"Thanks."

Anna walked back to the women's locker room and rubbed her arm. Phil had a really tight grip and she was pretty sure she'd be bruised the next day. She shook her head, Phil was getting more and more unstable, she was starting to worry about RAW the next night. She quickly got changed and headed to the catering area just as "Written in my Face" started playing. She watched Orton pacing the ring as "Sheamus" stepped in. She saw someone sit down next to her and was a little surprised to see Wade Barrett there when she turned her heard.

"Wade?" she questioned, looking around to see if there were cameras with him.

"We're alone." He told her, looking to her arm where Phil had grabbed her after her match, "We won't let him hurt you anymore." He whispered.

"Who won't?" she asked.

"Your friends, Stephen's friends and Paul's friends." He said simply and the blood drained out of her face.

"How many people know about this?" she asked, her voice strained as she tried to keep her eyes on the monitor.

"Enough to keep you safe." He said, keeping his voice low. "Wow Stephen's taking a beating tonight."

Anna just nodded as she watched the match play out. The men went back and forth for a lot of the match but then in quick succession Randy hit the DDT from the ropes and once "Sheamus" got shakily to his feet, he hit the RKO. Randy rolled him over and in just three seconds it was over and there was a new World Heavyweight Champ. Wade patted her shoulder and walked with her back to the women's locker room to get her bag.

Anna was the first one to their hotel room. She set her bag down and sat on the edge of the bed. It was done. Stephen wasn't the champion anymore and no matter how she tried to convince herself, she couldn't help but feel that it was all her fault. The door opened and Stephen walked in, followed by Paul. She looked up at the two men and sighed, she'd known this discussion was coming, but she didn't want to have it.


	7. The Plan

**Author's Note: Okay, so I apologize for the delay in ALL my stories. After Jerry "The King" Lawler collapsed at RAW on Monday night my Muse decided to take a little "vacation". She disappeared for a week…not sure where she went, but I spent the time meditating, praying for Jerry, and getting ready for my wedding next month…There is so much to do! I think she's back so I'm gonna give this another crack…hopefully it works. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews and follows! Oh, and patience!**

* * *

When Stephen walked into his hotel room with Paul, he saw Anna sitting on the bed and she didn't look happy. He quickly walked to her side and put an arm around her. He wanted to kill Phil for laying his hands on her again, he could see the bruises forming on her arm and it made his blood boil. Anna leaned against him and finally looked up at Paul.

"Alright, how are we going to do this?" she asked, her voice low and cautious.

Paul leaned against the wall and sighed, "I'm not really sure. Given the way Randy says Phil reacted to you losing the battle royal tonight, I'm a little worried about how he'll react to "Sheamus" competing for your affections."

"Paul, he's unstable, I don't feel safe working with him." Anna said, being honest with her boss. "I'll quit if you can't find a way to get me away from him, and soon."

"Anna, that won't be necessary." Paul said, "We're planning on AJ announcing a tournament to determine Punk's SummerSlam opponent on Monday. Sheamus will win the tournament and on SummerSlam night he'll face CM Punk."

"A month, you want me to wait another month?" she said, feeling herself get a little dizzy. "I can't wait another month."

"That's okay." Paul said, "You won't have to wait another month, you and Punk will be at ringside for every match of the tournament."

Anna nodded, "That's nice, but how does that get me away from Punk sooner than SummerSlam?"

"Because, tomorrow night, when AJ announces the last quarter-final match we expect Punk to get very angry that Sheamus is one of his potential opponents for SummerSlam." Paul said, "At some point, possibly when Sheamus wins, Punk will of course think this was all your idea and at that point Sheamus will interfere on your behalf."

"You're leaving an awful lot of this up to chance." Anna said, feeling more and more nervous as the conversation went on. "What happens if he attacks me at the beginning of the match? What happens if he gets out of control?"

"Jerry Lawler and Michael Cole are both aware of what's going on, along with Justin Roberts and all the referees." Paul said, "if anything happens and Sheamus can't get to you or it looks like it's going badly, they will get involved and get you to Stephen as quickly as possible."

Stephen could feel the tension in her body, she was ramrod stiff, which probably meant she didn't like this idea at all. If he was honest with himself, he didn't like it either, but he couldn't think of any other way to get her away from Punk and at his side.

"Paul, how many people in the company have you told about what's going on?" she asked, "Wade told me that our friends know, yours included."

"After what happened a few weeks ago I did pull Wade, Drew, Randy and a few other superstars into the office and let them know what had happened. I wanted Randy prepared for No Way Out tonight and to have a few additional eyes to make sure that nothing happened." Paul replied honestly, "I also let Jerry and Michael know what was going on so they could keep an eye out when you were down at the ring."

Anna nodded, it made sense, she just wished he'd said something to her; it was disconcerting knowing that people knew her personal business but not knowing exactly who knew and how much they knew.

Stephen held her close and they worked out a few more details, going over a few ways that the match tomorrow night could go. Finally, after talking for well over two hours Paul left them alone to talk and headed back to his room to call Stephanie; he knew his wife wasn't going to be happy about what was going on, but they needed to keep their employees as safe as possible.

Anna looked at Stephen and sighed, she hated seeing him looking so worried but she knew there wasn't much she could do about it. It was what it was and after tomorrow night nothing would be the same.


	8. Goes Horribly Wrong

The next night Anna stood with Phil waiting for RAW to start; all he knew was that they were going to go to the ring, he'd do a little speech and then AJ would come out and announce that she was setting up a tournament to determine his SummerSlam opponent. No one knew exactly who was in the tournament, except those that had been tapped to be in it, and Anna was interested to see who would be coming down throughout the night.

Stephen sat alone in a secluded part of the arena and he would stay there until his match later in the night. He has a monitor so he could watch what was going on. He hated that he couldn't be closer to her, but he knew it was safer for her if he didn't show up until he was supposed to.

Anna stood in the ring listening to "Punk" talk about how he beat Barrett the night before and how he didn't think AJ had anyone that could beat him, how she probably had no idea who his next opponent was going to be. AJ's music hit and Anna had to stop herself from smiling as the young woman skipped out to the ring.

"You know Punk, I may not know _exactly_ who you're going to face at SummerSlam in four weeks, but I know there are a lot of guys in the back who want to fight you and that certainly deserve it, so I've set up a tournament with eight of the most deserving." The RAW GM smiled at him, "and you're going to sit ring side and watch every match or I will strip you of the WWE Championship and the tournament will be to decide the new Champion. And the first match starts NOW."

AJ left the ring and skipped back up the ramp, she saw Paul watching her as she entered and nodded her head, it was done. Wade Barrett walked through the curtain and headed to the ring, getting ready to face Daniel Bryan.

Punk sat next to the commentary table and kept one hand on his belt and the other he used to hold on to Morgan. He wasn't happy about AJ's new way to screw him over. It had been more than a year since he'd refused the crazy bitch's proposal and he just didn't understand why she still had to mess with him.

Anna sat next to Punk and watched Barrett quickly beat Daniel Bryan to move onto the next round of the tournament. She sighed, Barrett would be an amazing champion, but she knew he wouldn't win the tournament; she was one of few who did know the outcome of what was happening tonight. The next match was surprising, Kane against Tensai, but Kane won easily and he would move on to face Wade Barrett.

Stephen watched RAW from backstage, he watched the first two matches and then sighed when they popped a Diva's match into the middle of the tournament. Beth Phoenix faced off with Alicia Fox and actually won for once. As the "Glamazon" celebrated in the ring he stood and started getting changed. There was only one more match before he would face Drew McIntyre, he only hoped that things would go well and that Phil wouldn't react too badly when he made his way to the ring.

Punk stood and stretched during the commercial break and Anna took a drink out of her water bottle. She knew the next match was Miz vs Cena, so she watched with feigned interest until, in what could be called an upset, Miz actually beat Cena. That would mean that Sheamus would take on Miz, Anna was okay with that.

Drew McIntyre's music hit and the Scotsman nearly swaggered down to the ring, he made it look like his eyes were on Punk but Anna knew he was looking at her. Drew got into the ring and posed for a bit before getting out of the ring and standing a few feet away. He smiled at her reassuringly and that was when the plan went horribly wrong.

_IT'S A SHAMEFUL THING, LOST YER HEAD! A CARELESS MAN WHO COULD WIND UP DEAD!_

The crowd exploded as Sheamus walked out in new white and green trunks, CM Punk exploded out of his chair and rounded on Morgan.

"You bitch!" he screamed, backhanding her so hard he knocked her out of her chair and split her lip. "You stupid fucking whore, did you fuck Hunter to get your boytoy into this tournament?"

Anna was dazed as she looked up into Punk's furious gaze. His words were making no sense and Anna realized she probably had a concussion. As he grabbed her hair she heard herself screaming in pain as he tried to yank her off the floor by it. Her hands went to his wrist as she tried to get him to let go.

"Punk…please…" she begged, feeling blood dripping off her chin.

The second backhand made the arena spin and Punk dropped her as Drew McIntyre attacked Punk. She could vaguely hear Michael Cole's voice yelling for security and a trainer and then a pale form blurred past her as she lay on the ground.

Watching backstage Paul saw their carefully laid plans blow up in their faces; Stephanie would not be happy, but there wasn't anything they could do now. He watched Stephen charge down the ramp with a speed that his size hid when Punk backhanded Anna for the second time. Anna was bleeding and was obviously dazed as she lay on the ground. Drew had gone from attacking Punk, to get him off Anna, to trying to restrain Sheamus who was currently punching Punk in the face, ribs and anywhere else the Irish brawler could land his fist. Having seen enough Paul exited his office and headed down to the ring at a run. There were come security guards pulling the two men apart as he rounded the ring and dropped to Anna's side. Jerry Lawler had gently picked her up and seemed to be cradling her head and was using a handkerchief to wipe the blood off her chin.

"It'll be okay Anna." The King said, smiling at her.

"Where's Stephen?" she asked, trying not to move her spilt lip too much.

"SHEAMUS!" Paul hollered, trying to get the big man's attention.

Stephen heard his ring name being called by Paul, but he was seeing red and was still struggling against four refs and Drew; he was going to kill Punk for making Anna bleed. A couple more refs and a trainer were restraining Punk and trying to see how badly he was hurt, which as far as Stephen was concerned wasn't near enough. He saw Drew looking over his shoulder and cursing.

"Man, Anna needs you." The Scotsman said and instantly Stephen turned around.

Anna was having trouble focusing but she knew Jerry was holding her and Paul was at her side. She could sort of see a commotion going on a few feet away but she didn't want to see that, she just wanted Stephen. Suddenly he loomed over her; he had knelt on one knee and reached out to take her from Jerry. He spoke softly in Gaelic to her as she picked her up and she leaned her head against his neck and shoulder.

Stephen carefully carried her around the ring and up the ramp. He knew there were EMTs waiting to check her out and take her to a local hospital if need be. The audience was still chanting "Holy Shit" as he did so and it wasn't hard to understand why, nothing like this had ever happened on WWE TV before, not even the Pay-Per-Views. He held her hand as they put a neck brace on her and checked her eyes. The EMT was concerned enough that they decided to take her to the hospital get a CAT Scan done and make sure that Phil hadn't caused any serious damage when he'd hit her. The bruises darkening on her cheek made Stephen want to punch something, but he gently kissed her clear cheek and promised her that as soon as he had changed he would be at the hospital. He whispered "I love you" in Gaelic before heading back to get changed out of his gear.

Phil struggled against the trainers and refs holding him down as he watched Morgan cling to Sheamus as they walked away from him. She was his damn it, who did Sheamus think he was trying to take her away from him. The stupid Irish son-of-a-bitch would pay for this and so would that stupid slut. Morgan didn't know how good she had it with him, but she'd learn, if it took forever, she would learn to respect him…


	9. Consequences?

"You put the lives of at least three of our employees in danger, what the hell were you thinking!" Paul winced as his wife yelled at him.

They were sitting in the board room at WWE headquarters the day after RAW had gone so wrong. Phil and Anna were still in the hospital and Phil was threatening to press charges against "Sheamus". Paul hung his head, resting it in his hands and sighed heavily.

"Mark saw Phil getting physical with Anna." Paul said, "Phil had also come to me ranting about 'Morgan' and 'Sheamus' screwing around behind his back, it was clear he was unstable but we were worried about how he would react if we pulled her from him with no explanation."

Stephanie nodded, she knew that her husband took his job as Vice President of Talent Relations seriously; he would never want to put the lives of any of his employees at risk, but this was exactly what he had done.

"What did Anna want?" Stephanie asked, trying to soften her voice a little.

"She didn't want to work with Phil."

"Was she scared of him?"

"Yes, she threatened to quit if we didn't find a plausible and quick way to get her away from Phil and working with Stephen."

"How long have she and Stephen been involved off-screen?"

"They both confessed they've been together since her first day on RAW." Paul sighed, "They knew that the WWE Universe wouldn't understand her being with Sheamus when they weren't on TV and weren't sure how the writers and execs would feel so they kept it a secret."

Stephanie nodded, she remembered how tough it had been for Maryse and Mike when they'd both worked for the company; Maryse had been dating Mike in "real life" and dating Ted DiBiase Jr on screen. She sighed, this was going to have to be explained somehow.

"Alright, get together with the writers, figure something out." Steph looked at her husband's weary face. "I know you were trying to do what you thought was right Paul, but this should have been cleared by the board of directors, it was too damn risky."

"I know Steph." He sighed again, "I'll find a way to fix it."

Stephen sat next to Anna's bed watching her sleep. He knew they'd been waking her up through the night to make sure that her concussion wasn't affecting her too badly. The CAT Scan last night hadn't shown any internal damage to her brain, which he was very glad of. He reached out and took her small hand between his two much larger ones and exhaled a long, heavy breath.

"How is she?" a soft voice drifted over to him and Stephen turned to see Randy Orton standing in the door way.

"No internal bleeding, but she's got a pretty bad concussion." Stephen said, keeping his voice low. "Phil didn't hold back when he struck her last night."

"I didn't realize he was _that_ unstable." Randy shook his head and came to stand on the other side of the hospital bed. "So what happens now?"

"I don't know," Stephen shook his head, "but Phil is apparently wanting to press charges against me, but he keeps calling me Sheamus, it's like he's completely lost touch with what happens on camera and what happens off."

Randy nodded, looking at the bruises on his friend's face he wanted to walk down to Phil's room and throw a few punches himself. He and Anna weren't particularly close, but they'd had dinner together a few times and had driven to house shows together. She was a nice woman and he hated seeing what Phil had done to her.

"What's the WWE going to do?"

Stephen shook his head, "I don't know. Paul's in a meeting with Stephanie and then I guess he's going to meet with the writers and legal and figure out what the WWE's statement on what happened is going to be."

"Man, last time real life intruded into WWE programming was last year in Montreal." Randy shuddered, remembering Jerry Lawler's on-air heart attack.

Anna heard the two men talking and kept her eyes closed. Her head hurt and the small amount of light leaking through the blinds was making it worse, even through her closed lids. She shifted, trying to make the pain stop but it didn't work and she whimpered.

"Anna?" Stephen's voice was soft as he said her name.

"Hurts." She mumbled, feeling her lip tug.

"I'll get a nurse." Randy said and she heard him leave the room.

"Wasn't a dream." She murmured, trying not to move her lips too much.

"Sorry _a ghra_." Stephen said, sighing. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough."

"I'm sorry, when he hit you I just saw red." She felt his hand tighten on hers for a second, "I shouldn't have lost my temper like that."

Anna squeezed his hand, "You were defending me." She said, "It'll work out."

The nurse came into the room and injected something into Anna's IV that made her feel floaty and a little giggly. She was finally able to open her eyes and asked to see a mirror. Stephen held it up and she gasped. The right side of her face was a mass of blue and purple bruises and was slightly puffy. Her lip was split and swollen, the scab and angry red in the middle of the purple bruise that had formed because of her lip meeting her teeth. Her hand trembling she reached up and touched the bruise where Phil had struck her. It didn't hurt much thanks to the pain killers the nurse had given her but she knew that it would be a long time healing.

Stephen saw the tears in her eyes and longed to hold her close but with her concussion she wasn't supposed to move too much for a couple days.

"I want to be on SmackDown tonight." She said suddenly, shocking the men on either side of her bed. "People need to know what happened."

Three hours later Anna had just gotten off the phone with Paul and even though her doctors weren't happy, she was getting dressed with Stephen's help to go to SmackDown. The doctor's had insisted she wear a neck brace while driving because they were worried about whiplash but after speaking with the WWE and knowing that there would be a doctor ringside and another in back area they had acquiesced to Anna's demand that she be allowed to drive to the SmackDown taping and address the WWE Universe. She promised to go home and rest for a minimum of three weeks after her appearance that night.

Sitting in the car with Stephen and Randy Anna actually felt safe. She closed her eyes and let herself slip into sleep while the guys talked about sports and other things that she didn't really care too much about. Tonight would be hard, she would have to lie, at least a little, to the WWE Universe, but they needed to know the truth, well, the truth of the WWE anyway.


	10. Revelations

**Author's Note: Okay, wow! Really happy you guys are liking the story, given what it's about, but thanks for sticking with it! One reviewer said it'll probably get worse before it gets better and um…yeah…Muse kind of poked me this morning and had an evil grin on Her face… not sure what's going to happen but hope you keep reading and reviewing.**

**Also, I do not, in anyway, take domestic violence lightly. I am a survivor of domestic violence, I was in a 4 year relationship that nearly killed me. I have had a lot of trouble working through what happened to me and this is my way of processing what happened, by changing the circumstances and obviously the people involved. Again, thanks for reading!**

Paul met them in the underground parking lot, he didn't look happy but he knew that Anna needed to do this. She needed to show Phil that he didn't own her and that her life, her choices, were her own. Randy was driving the rental car with Stephen in the passenger's seat and Anna in the back. She was wearing blue jeans, a plain green t-shirt and a black hoody. Her neck was braced and her face was a mass of bruises. He stood back and let Stephen help her out of the car.

"Anna." Paul said, stepping up to her now, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes."

Anna saw the concern on Paul's face and smiled as well as she could. He sighed heavily and nodded, walking with them backstage and making sure no cameras saw her. Almost no one knew she was there and he wanted to keep it that way until the show started. Anna would speak first and then they'd get her on her way home to rest and recover. She kept her hoody up and walked to the gorilla position with Paul and Stephen on either side of her and Randy taking the rear. When she got there a few people were milling around and she just kept her head down, if she talked to anyone before she went out she would lose it.

Michael Cole and Josh Matthews were already at their seats and the theme music for SmackDown rang through the arena. Paul gently patted her shoulder before his music hit and walked down to the ring. When he got into the ring and was handed a mic he was a bit surprised at the utter silence that descended on the area.

"Something happened as Monday night RAW ended that needs to be addressed." He said, taking a steadying breath, "And there's no one better to address it than the woman it happened to. Ladies and gentleman, Morgan."

Anna heard her ring name being called and walked out and down to the ring; she kept her head down as much as she could with her brace and she could hear the fans murmuring as she got into the ring with Paul's help. Taking a deep breath Anna lifted her head and dropped her hood. She looked directly into the camera for a minute before taking the mic he held out to her.

"Thank you Hunter." She said, in character now. "I came here tonight to talk about something that came to a head on Monday night. On Monday night CM Punk assaulted me, he hit me hard enough to split my lip and give me a pretty bad concussion. This isn't the first time that Punk had put his hands on me in anger, but it's the first time he's done it where so many could see it and where the bruises are impossible to hide."

Anna turned to announce desk and saw the anguish in Michael Cole's face, the veteran announcer obviously had figured out that this wasn't completely storyline after the night before.

"I want to thank Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler for coming to my aid quickly last night." She said, watching Cole nod at her. "I'd like to ask Drew McIntrye and Sheamus to join me in the ring please."

Stephen waited for Drew to join him in the gorilla area and the two men walked to the ring together; they were supposed to be enemies, but right now they were both one Anna's side of whatever conflict was developing.

"Drew, you didn't hesitate last night to interfere in what most would call a domestic dispute; you didn't know what was going on or why, but you helped me, I will forever be grateful for that." She gave the stunned Scotsman a small smile before turning to Sheamus. "Sheamus, you have been an incredible friend since my first night on RAW. You wished me luck, not knowing who I was and even though you and CM Punk have had your issues, you've been there for me when I needed a friend. You also put yourself in harm's way last night to protect me and I will be eternally grateful for that as well."

She turned away from Stephen for a minute, she needed to compose herself; this was the part that she wasn't looking forward to.

"Sheamus, as much as I appreciate your friendship and help last night, our friendship is what's to blame for what CM Punk did to me." She said, looking into his pained eyes.

Stephen couldn't stay silent anymore, he grabbed the mic from Paul and spoke.

"Morgan, I don't understand." He said, doing his best not to break character. "How does us being friends have anything to do with Punk beating you?"

Anna felt her eyes starting to water, "Because Punk thought we were having an affair." She said, her voice breaking up a bit. "He told me many times, behind closed doors, that he thought we're sleeping together."

Stephen was in utter anguish, he hated playing this way with their relationship, with their love, but he saw no other choice.

"Morgan," he said, looking her straight in the eye, "you and I both know that our friendship has been nothing more than that; but I have to be honest with you about something."

Anna shook her head as much as the brace would let her. "Sheamus?"

"I'm in love with you Morgan." He said, "I have been for a while, but I knew you were with Punk and I didn't want to risk our friendship but I can't keep it secret any more, I love you."

Anna closed her eyes, this wasn't how she wanted things to go. A single tear leaked out the corner of her left eyes and she felt Stephen reach out and wipe it away. She took a deep breath and took the plunge that it was so obvious he wanted her to take.

"Sheamus," she said, watching his face, "I love you too."

The entire arena erupted at her soft words and Sheamus's face lit up with a grin that she would remember forever.

"Hunter," Anna said, turning to their boss. "Punk had been abusing me for the last few months, I don't want to work with him anymore. I don't love him, not anymore, but I was scared to say anything."

Paul took back the mic from Stephen and she could see he was a bit relieved by the scene they had played out.

"Morgan, I am so sorry that you had to go through this." He said, "I am even sorrier that no one noticed and that you didn't feel safe enough to say something to us so that we could help you." He held up his hand when she went to talk, "I know that you were in situation that a lot of women find themselves in, through no fault of your own, and we will do everything possible to help you."

Anna could feel the hot tears running down her face, her voice was thick with emotion when she started to speak again, "Thank you." She said, "Thank you so much Hunter." She took a deep breath and looked around the arena. "I'm done being afraid of CM Punk, it was my silence that allowed him to hurt me, that allowed him to keep me scared and isolated and no more, I am no one's property, I belong to myself and give my heart to whom I choose." She sighed softly and then continued, "Because of the injuries I sustained Monday night the doctors have told me I have to rest and recover for at least three weeks; I'll still be on Twitter and I'll be back before you have a chance to miss me."

Paul escorted them out of the ring and when she got back stage the entire roster was standing there and started clapping. Anna was stunned, she had no idea they were all watching. She felt herself starting to tremble but a strong arm slid around her and she leaned into Stephen's warmth as a few people started walking forward.

It took her nearly an hour to get out of the building but by the end of it she was insanely happy. Her co-workers were proud of her for taking a stand against domestic violence, even if some of them were still under the impression that this was storyline. Stephanie McMahon-Levesque was waiting to drive her to the airport where she'd take a private jet home to Toronto to recover. Stephanie didn't speak much during the drive and Anna wasn't sure if it was because she was angry about what had happened or if it was because they weren't really that close. Either way Anna enjoyed the silence and said a polite good bye when they got the airport.

THREE DAYS LATER:

CM Punk sat in a hotel room watching SmackDown and felt his blood boiling. That whore! She had the audacity to lie to the WWE Universe? And then admit that she _loved_ that Irish bastard. He touched his bruised ribs and growled as she told Hunter that she didn't love him anymore but had been scared of him. How _dare _she disrespect him like that! That stupid whore would pay; she may be out of action for three weeks, but he wasn't and neither was her precious Irish boy toy. As Punk watched them walk from the ring hand in hand he started making a plan; he was due back on RAW Monday night and Sheamus would pay for taking what was his and Morgan would pay too, but her payment would be so much sweeter, at least it would be for Punk…


	11. Punk's Revenge

**Author's Note: If you love Sheamus this chapter will probably be a little hard to read, I'll try to remember to put a small "synopsis" at the end of the chapter in case you want to skip it and not read all the details. I am SO not wanting to write this but it needs to be done, please forgive me!**

Anna sat on her couch getting ready for Monday Night RAW, it was finally running on time with the US so she could actually watch it live. It felt weird to be watching it rather than actually being there. Her sister, and fellow wrestling fan, Katrina, sat next to her as they turned to the right channel and started wondering what would happen tonight. Paul had called her to let her know that Phil had been released from hospital and was due back on RAW. She was mad that he was back, but unless she wanted to actually press charges, it was company policy that he got a second chance.*

Stephen paced backstage, he knew that Phil was back on TV tonight and he wasn't looking forward to the confrontation, especially after what had happened on SmackDown. He hadn't planned on telling the Universe that he loved Anna, but he hadn't been able to stop himself. When she'd gone along with it and expressed her love for him as well, it had made him so happy, but had a feeling it had complicated things. If Phil was still under the delusion that Anna was Morgan and that she had been fooling around on him, having her profess her love for "Sheamus" on air probably wasn't going to help, but nothing could be done about it now.

Phil walked into the arena and let CM Punk take him over, he wanted to confront Sheamus and he wanted to show Morgan what happened when people disrespected him and it would happen, he'd make sure of it.

RAW started with AJ walking to the ring and saying that the tournament for CM Punk's WWE Championship was still on and that the match that should have happened last Monday night between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus was still a go. She also set up a couple more matches for later in the night and said that the tournament would continue next week once the four semi-final participants had been set.

Anna was a little shocked that they were going ahead with the tournament but sat back to watch the rest of show, excited that she'd get to see Stephen wrestle. Oddly, even though Phil was supposed to be back, he didn't appear to be at RAW as he hadn't been shown on camera yet.

Nearly three hours later as the got ready for the main event that was supposed to happen the week before Anna caught a glimpse of Phil, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt backstage, trying to remain unseen. An unsettling feeling formed in her stomach as she picked up the phone and dialled Paul's cell phone. She got his voice mail and left a message that she'd seen Phil lurking and had a bad feeling about the end of RAW.

Stephen was stretching in the gorilla area and saw Drew McIntyre enter to get ready. They nodded to each other and got focused on their own pre-match routines. Neither of the men saw Phil standing in the shadows, the crazed look in his eyes would have scared even the bravest of men and the steel pipe in his hand would have worried most people.

Drew's music hit and walked down to the ring, he got a bit of heat, but not as much as he should have. Most people had a lot of respect for him after he stepped up and helped Morgan the week before. He got in the ring and waited for Sheamus.

Anna sat on the edge of her couch, knowing "Sheamus" would be coming out next. When his music hit she smiled as much as she could and sighed when he stepped out and the crowd exploded.

"Wow, you must really love him." Kat said, seeing the look on her sister's face.

"I really do." Anna replied.

Sheamus was posing on the stage when things went so horribly wrong. Anna watched in horror as CM Punk ran out of the back with a steel pipe. Her breath exploded out of her body as Punk swung the pipe and connected with the back of Stephen's head. Punk didn't flinch as the spray of blood from the impact splattered his face as Stephen crumpled to the ground. Screams of horror and shock reverberated around the arena as Anna slid off the couch and to her knees, feeling like she was going to be sick.

"Morgan…I know you're watching sweetheart." Punk's voice was taunting her from the screen.

She looked up and Punk was bent over Stephen's body, no one seemed to know what to do. He grabbed Stephen by the hair and picked his head up off the ground.

"See what happens when you disrespect me?" he growled, his eyes were shining with insanity. "Your boy toy pays the price Morgan."

With a viciousness she didn't know Phil had he threw Stephen's head back on the stage and then stood up and kicked him in the ribs a few times.

Anna watched in horror as the blood staining his ginger hair started spreading on the stage and WWE officials finally started coming to his aid. Her phone rang and she ignored it, keeping her eyes on the screen. She could tell the difference between real EMTs and the WWE's version of them and it was no mistaking that real EMTs were currently checking Stephen out.

"Anna, the phone's for you." Kat's voice barely pierced the fog. "It's Paul."

Anna took the phone in a numb hand and held it to her ear.

"Anna?"

"I want him fired." She ground out, "and charged."

"Done and can be arranged." Paul's voice was fairly calm. "We can have a plane at the airport in an hour and a half if you want."

"Yes."

"We'll have a car waiting when you get here." Paul said, "He's on route to the best hospital here."

"I know." She said, standing and walking to her room to pack a bag. "I'll see you there."

Phil laughed manically as the police cuffed him and put him in the back of a police car; did they really think that firing him and arresting him would really stop him from getting back what was his? Morgan was his, would always be his, nothing could change that. She'd see it his way sooner or later and if she didn't, well, he'd have to find a way to convince her.

_**Chapter Synopsis: Anna is at home in Toronto, while Phil and Stephen are at RAW. AJ announces that the Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus match will go on that night. At the end of RAW, as Sheamus is making his way to the ring CM Punk attacks with a steel pipe and then mocking "Morgan" live on air. Chapter ends with Anna getting ready to fly to the hospital to see Stephen and Phil being arrested but still completely delusional about who Anna is and how she feels about him and their "relationship".**_

_*I don't actually know if this is true or not, but I put it in to make Punk being at RAW half-ways plausible._


	12. Hard Decisions

**Author's Note: Alrighty, so last chapter our poor Sheamus took a metal pipe to the back of the head...ouch! Well the back of the head protects the "occipital lobe" of the brain, one of the 4 major divisions of the cerebral cortex and processes information relating to vision…not sure where I'm going to go with this but figured I'd let you know that I did my research! **** Please R&R!**

Katrina had insisted on joining Anna on her trip to see Stephen; she knew her sister was in pain, both physical and emotional, and she didn't want her to be alone. Anna stare out the window of the private WWE jet that was flying them to where RAW had aired that night. Katrina wanted to say something to her sister, but didn't know what. What do you say to someone whose boyfriend is lying in the hospital after being beaten with a steel pipe?

Anna was in a world of her own, should she have said something sooner? If she had, would any of this even happened? Her self-loathing was so deep that she didn't know if she would ever break out of it. She knew her sister was worried about her, but she had no words to explain how she felt. The pilot came over the loud speaker and said they were about to make their descent and they should buckle up. She did up her seatbelt and felt the plane starting to dip. When they finally taxied to a stop she got up and grabbed her bag from under her seat. The world tilted a bit and she steadied herself before slowly standing back up.

"You okay Sis?"

"Yeah, just a bit dizzy after bending down, I'm good now." She smiled at Kat and led the way off the plane.

Paul stood by a car waiting for them; Anna didn't know if this was bad or good but she kept her back straight and walked towards her boss. Paul's face was grim but he hugged her gently and opened the door for them. The driver took their bags and put them in the trunk. Once they were seated Anna introduced her sister to Paul; she hadn't seen her sister much since becoming a WWE Diva so Kat hadn't had a chance to meet most of her co-workers.

"Alright Paul, be honest with me, how bad is it?" she asked, cutting to the chase as the car started moving.

"Well, we're still waiting for most of the test results." He said, "But the good news it is it doesn't look like he fractured his skull. We'll know more after the scans come back."

Anna chuckled, "he always told me he had a thick skull."

The rest of the ride to hospital was silent and quick; when they got out she finally remembered to turn her cell phone back on. She stopped Paul with a hand gesture when she noticed she had a few voicemail messages; Anna was just about to check them when her phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Yes, is this Anna Stark?" a very formal sounding voice asked.

"Yes I am," she said, "who is this?"

Paul watched the colour drain from her face as she answered questions.

"I'm right outside actually, can I come up and talk to the doctor?" she asked and Paul realized that the hospital must have been trying to get a hold of her because she was Stephen's emergency contact. "Yes, thank you."

Anna hung up the phone and without a word to her sister or Paul walked into the hospital and headed where the nurse had told her to meet the doctor. The doctor actually kind of looked like Eric Dane from Grey's Anatomy and for a moment she had a feeling that this was all a dream, but when he turned to look at her she could tell this was serious.

"Miss Stark I presume?" he asked, sounding nothing like 'McSteamy'.

"Yes, Doctor Shaw." She said, reading his name tag, "How's Stephen doing?"

"Well, he's very lucky the pipe didn't fracture his skull." Dr. Shaw said honestly, shaking his head, "There is some swelling in his occipital lobe, that's the one at the back of his head."

"I know where the occipital lobe is, it's what the occipital bone protects." She said, smiling at the doctor, "How bad is the swelling?"

"It's moderate, however, because of the swelling we can't tell whether or not there's bleeding in his brain." Dr. Shaw said, "I'm a little concerned about there being a subdural hematoma to be honest."

Anna's stomach dropped, that was bad; subdural hematomas could kill in twenty-four hours if they weren't found and treated.

"Is there any way that you could find out if there is bleeding?" she asked, "Have you done a CAT scan?"

"Yes, we're waiting for the results." He said, "We've put Stephen in a room and he's still sedated but you can see him if you want."

"There isn't much you can do until the scan results come back, until you know if you need to do…" her voice choked up.

"Until we know if we need to do surgery." He finished, "yes, that's right. We'll keep him sedated until then, but I know you'll want to see him."

On shaky legs, with her sister at her side, Anna walked to the room where Stephen was sedated. Her legs were shaking so badly by the time she got to the door that she was afraid she would collapse.

"Kat, I don't know if I can do this." She whispered to her sister, shaking head to toe.

Kat pulled her sister into giant hug, holding her close as she nearly lost it. She had known her sister was dating someone, but she had no idea it was "Sheamus" and she had had absolutely no idea that her sister had such strong feelings for the Celtic Warrior. Taking a small step back she look at her sister, face still bruised and lip still healing and saw the unshed tears in her eyes.

"You can do this." She said, "Because you have to and because he needs you."

Anna nodded, her sister was right; Stephen needed her. She took a deep breath, turned around and walked into the hospital room.

Stephen dwarfed the hospital bed he was laying on; at six-foot-four and nearly 270 pounds it wasn't hard for him to. His pale skin, normally glowing, looked sallow and sickly, there was a bandage wrapped tightly around his head, obscuring the beautiful ginger hair that Anna loved so much. Kat led her over to a chair by the side of the bed and Anna reached out and took his hand. He was hooked up to a few machines and hand an IV in his left hand, but she was on his right and held his hand tightly, remembering that only a week ago he had done the same for her.

Paul walked into the room and heard Anna crying; he stepped a little further in and saw her bent over with her forehead pressed against his hand and her sister's arm around her trembling shoulder. He stood a few feet away and let her have a few minutes of silence. When the sobbing seemed to subside a bit, he saw Anna turn her head and meet his eyes.

"No." she said, almost begging him. "Paul, no."

"They got the CAT Scan back, it looks like there's a minor bleed, but they need to get the pressure off and repair it before the pressure goes down on its own and he bleeds to death." Paul said, walking closer to her. "This will save his life."

"It could also kill him!" she shouted, "It could leave him with irreparable brain damage, did Doctor Shaw tell you that?"

Paul sighed, "It's your choice Anna, but either way they'll probably have to do the surgery." He crouched down next to her shaking form. "This way they have the chance of fixing it _and_ making sure there's no brain damage. It'll relieve what pressure is there."

Anna trembled; Stephen had made her his emergency contact and his power of attorney for his health less than a month ago and now she had to decide whether or not let them do brain surgery on him.

"Do it." She whispered. "Get Dr. Shaw, tell him I'll sign the paperwork."


End file.
